Reclaim the Block is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based political organization that advocates for the defunding of the Minneapolis Police Department. [1] The group was organized in 2018 as a coalition of Minneapolis-area activists to pressure the Minneapolis City Council during the budget process. [2]
Lobbying efforts led by Reclaim the Block and activist allies have resulted in the reallocation of over $1 million for proposed police hires[3] and in commitments by a majority of Minneapolis councilmembers to initiate the dissolution of city’s police force. [4]
Protests and civil unrest following the 2020 death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis police custody, brought additional attention to Reclaim the Block’s advocacy. [5] The incident became a catalyst across the United States for increased police scrutiny and broader calls by left-of-center activists for the defunding and abolition of police departments.
Mission and History
Reclaim the Block organizes activists and pressures city lawmakers in support of reduced funding for Minneapolis police. [6] The organization supports diverting public dollars from the police budget into “community-led health and safety strategies.” [7]
Prior to Reclaim the Block’s founding, a coalition of community activists in Minneapolis launched the MPD150 project in 2017 to develop “a practical pathway for dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department.” [8] Inspired by MPD150’s research, many of these same activists helped organize Reclaim the Block in 2018 to reduce police funding in the 2019 Minneapolis budget process. [9]
Representing several activist groups, including the Black Visions Collective, the new movement called for the city to divest 5% of police funding from the Minneapolis police budget. The efforts were ultimately successful in convincing the Minneapolis City Council to divert $1.1 million from Mayor Jacob Frey’s (D) proposed budget into the creation of an Office of Violence Prevention and alternative community programs. [10] The diverted funds were originally intended to pay for eight new police officers in Minneapolis. [11]
The following year, Reclaim the Block returned to the budget fight in demanding the removal of a $2 million earmark for the hiring of fourteen new officers proposed by Mayor Frey for the 2020 fiscal year. [12] While the 2020 budget passed with a 5% increase in funding for the police department, the funds proposed for the new hires were reallocated to pay for a new cadet class instead. [13]
Affiliated Organizations
Black Visions Collective
The radical-left Black Visions Collective describes itself as a “Black-led, Queer and Trans centering organization.” [14] Reclaim the Block credits this group for providing the “skills and vision” critical to its work. [15]
Members of the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter affiliate helped establish the Black Visions Collective in 2017. [16] The organization’s executive director Kandace Montgomery is also a member of Reclaim the Block. [17]
MPD150
MPD150 is a Minneapolis-based project that facilitated the creation of Reclaim the Block. In 2017, MPD150 marked the 150th anniversary of the Minneapolis police department with the release of a 36-page report providing a radical-left interpretation of the history of local law enforcement. [18]
As a core finding, MPD150 holds that “police were established to protect the interests of the wealthy and racialized violence has always been a part of that mission”[19] and insists on the eventual abolition of the city’s police force. [20] MPD150 also claims that police departments were originally created to persecute minorities and continue to be harmful to minority communities. [21]
Resources developed by MPD150 call for a transition to a “police-free future” by replacing police functions with community-based social services. To this end, MPD150 proposes the reallocation of police funds into housing, education, healthcare, and employment programs. [22]
According to MPD150’s website, the project is “horizontally organized” and does not operate under the purview of any specific organization. [23] However, according to reports, the Black Visions Collective is an instrumental part of MPD150[24] and Reclaim the Block member Tony Williams is a contributor to MPD150’s work. [25]
NGP VAN
NGP VAN, Inc. is a privately owned technology company that specializes in providing data management services to Democratic campaigns and left-of-center non-profits. [26] Both Reclaim the Block and the Black Visions Collective solicit online donations using NGP VAN’s EveryAction fundraising platform for non-profits. [27] [28]
2020 Minneapolis Protests
In 2020, Minneapolis became the center of a national debate on racism and policing in the United States following the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a black man, died while being restrained by officers of the Minneapolis Police Department sparking protests against alleged police brutality. The officers involved later were charged with criminal offenses. [29]
As tensions flared locally, and across the country, Reclaim the Block accelerated efforts to build public support for defunding police. A petition published on the group’s website accused police of “escalated violence” against the Black community and called for a halt to increases in police funding. [30] The petition also proposed a $45 million cut from the police budget to cover a loss of tax revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [31]
On June 7, 2020, Reclaim the Block partnered with the Black Visions Collective to host a community meeting with members of the Minneapolis City Council. [32] At the event, nine councilmembers confirmed support for measures to dissolve Minneapolis Police Department. [33]
However, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, indicated strong opposition to the councilmembers and Reclaim the Block’s demands. At a march organized by the Black Visions Collective, Frey was heckled and forced to leave by demonstrators after confirming he did “not support the full abolition of the police.” [34]
Leadership
According to an entry on Reclaim the Block’s Facebook page, the organization operates without a traditional leadership hierarchy. [35]
Black Visions Collective executive director Kandace Montgomery is a Reclaim the Block member[36] and is also the former lead organizer of the Black Lives Matter Global Network. [37] In 2014, she was charged with multiple offenses including trespassing after a Black Lives Matter rally at the Mall of America. The charges were later dropped. [38]
MPD150 contributor Tony Williams has also been identified as a member of Reclaim the Block[39] and at times has acted as an unofficial spokesman for the group. [40] In a National Public Radio interview in 2020, Williams responded to a question about how a police-free city would deal with crime, saying, “All of the answers to that require a lot more time than we have here today.” [41]
Financials
As of June 8, 2020, Reclaim the Block is not listed in the Minnesota Attorney General’s online registry of charitable organizations[42] and is not found in the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board registry. [43] The organization has not disclosed its budget or funding sources on its website. [44] However, an email address tied to Black Visions Collective is listed as point of contact for more information regarding grants from 501(c)(3) organizations and donations by mail. [45]
Attention garnered in the wake of George Floyd’s death led to a massive influx of financial support for Reclaim the Block. The Minnesota Freedom Fund, a non-profit dedicated to paying bail for low-income individuals, raised over $20 million earmarked for arrested protestors. [46] As a result, the fund stopped accepting donations and encouraged supporters to contribute to other activist groups including Reclaim the Block and the Black Visions Collective. [47] Shortly thereafter, Reclaim the Block also appeared to discourage new donations and asked supporters to send assistance to allied organizations. [48]